A "Kinky" Comeback

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Saturday 9th March – Queens Park Rangers v Manchester City (FA Cup 6th Round)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Lugano, Nastasic, Maicon, Kolarov; Barry, Toure; Sinclair, Nem; Aguero SUBS – Friedel, Zabaleta, Kompany, De Rossi, Nasri, de Jong, Tevez

QPR Starting XI – Julio Cesar, Bosingwa, Nelson, Mbia, Fabio; Taarabt, Faurlin, Diakite, Park; Zamora, Cisse SUBS – Green, Magri, Ferdinand, Hoilett, Campbell, Mackie, Sendles-White

An even game, although QPR created more chances, City wouldn’t have deserved to lose. So a replay it is and an additional game that City could have done without. Whichever team wins the replay faces a Semi-Final against Manchester United at Wembley.

Final Score – Queens Park Rangers 1 (Cisse 43) Manchester City 1 (Aguero 13)

MOTM – Fabio

Attendance – 18,439

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Tuesday 12th March – Real Madrid v Manchester City (Champions League 1st Knock-out round 2nd Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Richards, Kompany, Lugano, Zabaleta, Bale; De Rossi, Nasri; Nem, Aguero; Tevez SUBS – Hart, Nastasic, Kolarov, Toure, Milner, Sinclair, Dzeko

Real Madrid Starting XI – Casillas, Essien, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Khedira, Alonso; Modric, Kaka, Ronaldo; Benzema SUBS – Adan, Borja, Ozil, Di Maria, Carvalho, Callejon, Higuain

A brilliant defensive performance has sent Man City into the next round of the Champions League. Real were always going to dominate and it was just a case of if City could handle them, and they could, as it took 85 minutes to break City’s defense and the one goal wasn’t enough.

Final Score – Real Madrid 1 (Higuain 86) Manchester City 0
Manchester City win 3-1 on aggregate

MOTM – Vincent Kompany

Attendance – 80,229

Winning against Real Madrid, brilliant!

I couldnt believe the home leg, it was a really good game to watch but when they got a pen i looked away lol he missed and we won 3-0

We had a few chances in Madrid as well but we held on quite easily really.

Bring on the next round

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Saturday 16th March – Swansea v Manchester City (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Lugano, Kompany, Nastasic, Maicon, Clichy; De Rossi, Toure; Bale, Aguero; de Jong SUBS – Hart, Richards, Zabaleta, Nasri, Milner, Nem, Tevez

Swansea Starting XI – Vorm, Tate, Chico, Williams, Taylor; Richards, Jenas; Pablo Hernandez, Michu, Dyer; Graham SUBS - Viera, Shechter, Routledge, Bartley, Samaras, McClean, Tiendalli

Man City once paid £6m for Samaras, and many said it was the biggest waste of money the Club had ever spent, but today that man came back and haunted his old Club and all but ended their hopes of retaining their Premier League crown. Another big blow to Man City’s title hopes has arrived as Yaya Toure has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn hamstring.

Final Score – Swansea 1 (Samaras 84) Manchester City 0

MOTM – Jermaine Jenas

Attendance – 20,745

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Wednesday 20th March – Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers (FA Cup 6th Round Replay)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Lugano, Lescott, Clichy; Nasri, Milner, De Rossi, Sinclair; Nem; Aguero SUBS – Friedel, Zabaleta, Nastasic, Barry, Rodwell, de Jong, Marcos Lopes

QPR Starting XI - Julio Cesar, Bosingwa, Nelson, Mbia, Fabio; Granero, Faurlin, Diakite, Park; Zamora, Cisse SUBS – Green, Onouha, Ferdinand, Hoilett, Magri, Mackie, Taarabt

An awful performance from Manchester City, although they had 39 shots to QPR’s 9, they never really looked convincing and the game went all the way to penalties, where after 5 penalties each, QPR won 2-1.

Final Score – Manchester City 0 Queens Park Rangers 0 AET (QPR won 2-1 on pens)

MOTM – Ryan Nelson

Attendance – 46,519

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Sunday 31st March – Manchester City v Reading (Premier League)

The next round of the Champions League has been drawn and Manchester City will face German side, Schalke in the Quarter Final, and the winner of this tie will face either Galatasaray or Juventus in the Semi’s.

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Zabaleta, Lugano, Lescott, Clichy; Nasri, Milner, De Rossi, Bale; Nem; Aguero SUBS – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Barry, Sinclair, Tevez, Dzeko

Reading Starting XI – Federici, Martin, Gorkas, Pearce, Harte; McAnuff, Leigertwood, Gunnarsson, Robson-Kanu; Hunt, Pogrebnyak SUBS – McCarthy, Gunter, Mariappa, Rincon, Le Fondre, Shorey, Morrison

Back to business for Manchester City with a convincing win to put them back to 11 points behind United. Two goals each for Aguero and Nem give City a big win.

Final Score – Manchester City 4 (Aguero 7, 49 Nem 24, 55) Reading 1 (Harte (p) 72)

MOTM – Wellington Nem

Attendance – 46,454

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Manager’s March Review

A disappointing month in the league has seen us basically hand the title to United, 11 points behind at the end of the month is probably too much of a gap but we will keep fighting. Only one win all month in all competition’s isn’t good enough and all of us know that.

In the Cups, we lost a disappointing tie against QPR in the 6th round. It went to a replay and in the game at home we just couldn’t find a breakthrough and in the end lost a penalty shoot-out with 4 players missing penalties. The Champions League was a happier place, although we lost the 2nd leg against Real Madrid we went through 3-1 on aggregate, and face Schalke in the next round.

My player of the month is Sergio Aguero. We only scored 5 goals all month and Sergio scored 3 of them, his movement up front and clinical finishing makes him a massive asset to the team.

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Keep fighting for the league! You can still get back in to the race!

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Wednesday 3rd April – Schalke v Manchester City (Champions League Quarter-final 1st Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Nasri, Barry, De Rossi, Bale; Nem; Aguero SUBS – Hart, Richards, Lugano, Milner, Kolarov, Sinclair, Tevez

Schalke Starting XI – Hildebrand, Uchida, Howedes, Papadopoulos, Fuchs; Hoger, Jones; Barnetta, Holtby, Draxler; Huntelaar SUBS – Unnerstall, Neustadter, Afellay, Marica, Matip, Moritz, Obasi

Man City came to Germany for a draw and hoping to get an away goal, they left with one foot into the Semi-final’s of the Champions League. A really good game, changed in the 75th minute when Schalke were reduced to 10 men and to add to it, Sergio Aguero curled in the free kick. Although Schalke made it 2-2 with a penalty, Man City managed two more goals and take a 4-2 lead into the home leg.

Final Score – Schalke 2 (Huntelaar 48, 85 (p)) Manchester City 4 (Aguero 7, 77, 90+1, Nasri 88)

MOTM – Sergio Aguero

Attendance – 54,142

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Saturday 6th April – Fulham v Manchester City (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Nasri, Garcia, Milner, Sinclair; de Jong; Tevez SUBS – Hart, Zabaleta, Nastasic, De Rossi, Bale, Nem, Aguero

Fulham Starting XI – Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Senderos, Riise; Diarra, Williams; Ruiz, Petric, Marveaux; Berbatov SUBS – Stockdale, Kacaniklic, Dejagah, Gutierrez, Richardson, Riether, Sidwell

Another disappointing result after a decent performance. We had 10 minutes at the end of the game against 10 men and couldn’t take advantage and after this result the title race is over in my opinion.

Final Score – Fulham 2 (Marveaux 31, Riise 73) Manchester City 2 (Tevez 17, 53 (p))

MOTM – Rhys Williams

Attendance – 25,132

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Tuesday 9th April – Manchester City v Schalke (Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lugano, Clichy; Nasri, Barry, De Rossi, Bale; Nem; Aguero SUBS – Hart, Richards, Lescott, Milner, Kolarov, Sinclair, Tevez

Schalke Starting XI - Hildebrand, Pliatsikas, Howedes, Papadopoulos, Fuchs; Hoger, Neustadter; Barnetta, Holtby, Draxler; Huntelaar SUBS – Unnerstall, Escudero, Afellay, Marica, Matip, Moritz, Obasi

It would have taken a brilliant performance from Schalke or a major collapse from Man City for them not to go through, and neither happened. Instead, City looked assured all game and it was never in doubt. Two more European goals for Sergio Aguero, taking his Champions League tally to 7, were enough for City, and he could have had 3 but missed a penalty. City will face Galatasaray in the Semi-final.

Final Score – Manchester City 2 (Aguero 14, 87) Schalke 1 (Barnetta 89)
Manchester City win 6-3 on aggregate

MOTM – Kyriakos Papadopoulous

Attendance – 47,405

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Saturday 13th April – Manchester City v Stoke (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Maicon, Lugano, Lescott, Clichy; Nasri, Rodwell, Milner, Sinclair; de Jong; Aguero SUBS – Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, De Rossi, Bale, Nem, Tevez

Stoke Starting XI – Begovic, Shotton, Huth, Shawcross, Higginbottom; Whitehead, N’Zonzi, Palacios, Etherington; Crouch, Jones SUBS – Sorenson, Edu, Cameron, Pennant, Walters, Whelan, Adam

Our poor season in the league continues as we are unable to break down a tough Stoke side. Our place in the Champions League next season is not assured and City are said to be considering replacing their manager at the end of the season .

Final Score – Manchester City 0 Stoke 0

MOTM – Ryan Shawcross

Attendance – 46,455

Just read it all nice.

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Saturday 20th April – West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City go into the game at the Hawthorns knowing any result other than a win will see United win the league title and even three points might not be enough. What also might concern City fans is that Newcastle are on the same points and there Champions League spot for next season isn’t yet secured. The game also comes 3 days before the first leg of City’s first ever Champions League semi-final.

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Maicon, Lugano, Lescott, Kolarov; Nasri, Rodwell, Barry, Bale; Nem; Tevez SUBS – Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, De Rossi, Milner, de Jong, Aguero

WBA Starting XI – Foster, Reid, Dawson, Olsson, Ridgewell; Yacob, Mulumbu; Gera, Morrison, Brunt; Lukaku SUBS – Myhill, Tamas, Popov, Dorrans, Long, Jones, Jara

Manchester City made sure that United would have to win the title later in the day with a convincing performance at the Hawthorns. City fell behind early on but two goals each from Nem and Tevez guaranteed three points for the Blues.

Final Score – West Bromwich Albion 2 (Gera 11, Dorrans 88) Manchester City 4 (Nem 45+1, 60, Tevez 48,59)

MOTM – Wellington Nem

Attendance – 26,445

Manchester United win 20th Premier League Title

With a 3-1 win at home to Aston Villa, Manchester United have sealed their 20th league title and silenced critics that said they would struggle to win the league this season.

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United have sealed the title with 4 games to go and can now relax for the rest of the season and concentrate on trying to win the Champions League as well. Having only lost 2 games in 34 United have been top of the league since the ninth game of the season and haven’t looked back. Although up until the end of January, Manchester City looked like they would keep pace with the leaders but have struggled since the return of the Champions League and fell further and further behind their rivals.

United’s league success has been driven by 18 goals from Wayne Rooney, who has declared himself delighted with winning the league, “after last season, we were more determined than ever to win the league this year, so we are happy to have done so and made our fans proud.”

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Meanwhile, Manchester City will have to pick themselves up and get ready for the Champions League semi-final and try and secure a Champions League spot through the league. City manager Georgi Kinkladze made it clear he was disappointed to have lost the league title but is determined to bounce back, “we are gutted really, we thought we had a good enough team to win the league this year but this hasn’t been the case and hopefully we can put this right next season. For now, we will make sure we finish 2nd in the league and see if we can win the Champions League!”

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Tuesday 23rd April – Manchester City v Galatasaray (Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, Barry, De Rossi, Bale; Nem; Aguero SUBS – Hart, Richards, Lugano, Kolarov, Nasri, Silva, Tevez

Galatasaray Starting XI – Muslera, Eboue, Ujfalusi, Nounkeu, Hakan Balta; Altintop, Sarioglu, Inan, Amrabat; Yilmaz, Elmander SUBS – Ceylan, Zan, Kaya, Baytar, Bulut, Begum, Kurtulus

City will take a lead to Turkey, but it should have been a lot more. After going 2-0 up, City were cruising but two lapses in concentration led to Galatasaray pulling the game level, but before the end City’s Mr Champions League Sergio Aguero picked out David Silva on the back post to head home the winner. In the other Semi-Final Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford.

Final Score – Manchester City 3 (Aguero 43,55 Silva 88) Galatasaray 2 (Baytar 76, Altintop 80)

MOTM – Sergio Aguero

Attendance – 47,405

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Saturday 27th April – Manchester City v Liverpool (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Friedel, Maicon, Lugano, Kompany, Kolarov; Nasri, Rodwell, Barry, Sinclair; Silva; Tevez SUBS – Hart, Richards, Lescott, De Rossi, Milner, Nem, Aguero

Liverpool Starting XI – Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Sahin, Lucas; Johnson, Gerrard, Downing; Suarez SUBS – Doni, McLaughlin, Shelvey, Henderson, Borini, Livermore, Coates

A hat-trick in the first 34 minutes from Luis Suarez was just about enough to give Liverpool the three points. City made a spirited comeback in the second half but it wasn’t enough and City’s poor run continues in the league.

Final Score – Manchester City 2 (Aguero 68,77) Liverpool 3 (Suarez 2,22,34)

MOTM – Luis Suarez

Attendance – 43,997

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Manager’s April Review

A month that I am not proud of at all. We lost our league title to United and have never been able to hold down any kind of form for a third month running in the league. 1 win, 2 draws and a defeat came from our four games this month and it is just not good enough from a team who should be winning the league, our bad form has also seen us fall to third in the league behind Newcastle.

The Champions League however was a different story, we won both our legs in the Quarter Final against Schalke and progressed to the Semi Final. In the 1st leg of the Semi’s we played well and should have taken a better lead to Turkey but 3-2 could be enough to see us make it to the Final.

My player of the month goes to Sergio Aguero. Without doubt a massive bright spark in the month where he scored 2 league goals in 4 games and 7 in the three Champions League games, he finishing has become more lethal as the season goes on and I hope it fires us to the Final and will continue into next season.

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